Rosneft commences drilling in the Sea of Okhotsk

JV of Rosneft and Statoil ASA started drilling the exploration well in the Sea of Okhotsk.

The signal to begin drilling was given by the Rosneft Chairman of the Management Board Igor Sechin during the work at the rig Nanhai-9.

"Implementation of the offshore projects in upstream is one of the Company’s most important strategic goals, a contribution to the whole oil and gas industry. Rosneft is the country’s only company that continues the work on new projects offshore in accordance with its license obligations despite the complicated external environment. We are pleased to commence the key stage of project within the scope of the long-term cooperation with our partner – Statoil – the drilling of exploration wells in the Sea of Okhotsk" - Igor Sechin said.

Drilling Rig Nanhai 9

Well Ulberikanskaya-1 will be drilled at the prospect of the same name in Lisiansky license area one year ahead of the license obligations. The distance from the port of Magadan to the well is about 420 km. The second well of Rosneft and Statoil project will be also drilled during the 2016 season within Magadan-1 section in the Sea of Okhotsk.

Semi-submersible rig Nanhai-9 was delivered by China Oilfield Services Limited (COSL) which signed a contract for drilling with the joint venture of Rosneft and Statoil in September 2015. The rig was transported through the South China Sea, the East China Sea, the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk; to reach the point of drilling, the rig traveled a long way of more than 4600 nautical miles.

Nanhai-9 was specially modified for the drilling project in the Sea of Okhotsk: in particular, a comprehensive preparation of the rig was implemented to enable its operation at low ambient temperatures, wind protection was installed on the perimeter of the drilling site, a range of services were held to ensure environmentally safe operations. The Sea of Okhotsk lies south of the Arctic zone boundary, the sea depth in both drilling sites is less than 150 m.